Dear Kirt,

I’m a heeler and I like to keep my roping hand on the slack during delivery. Some ropers say let go of both strands, others say keep a grasp on the slack, which is it?

Thanks,

Lou, Morrison, Colo.

Dear Lou,

You have to let go of the heel rope because the whole objective of heeling is getting the bottom strand parallel to the ground so you can either rope the steer out of the air or get him to jump into your loop. If you’re always holding on to it, it’s hard to square the bottom of your loop up with the ground. You need to let go of your loop so you can go into your slack and actually pick it up and dally.

Heading, you can stay in close contact with your rope because the target is much closer to you. In heeling, you must let the loop go, because the target is ground. So you’re a lot further away from your target. It’s got to get on the ground so the steer can get in it.